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Croia L, Boscato Sopetto G, Zanella I, Caproni E, Gagliardi A, Tamburini S, König E, Benedet M, Di Lascio G, Corbellari R, Grandi A, Tomasi M, Grandi G. Immunogenicity of Escherichia coli Outer Membrane Vesicles: Elucidation of Humoral Responses against OMV-Associated Antigens. Membranes (Basel) 2023; 13:882. [PMID: 37999368 PMCID: PMC10673343 DOI: 10.3390/membranes13110882] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2023] [Revised: 11/10/2023] [Accepted: 11/11/2023] [Indexed: 11/25/2023]
Abstract
Outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) produced by Gram-negative bacteria have emerged as a novel and flexible vaccine platform. OMVs can be decorated with foreign antigens and carry potent immunostimulatory components. Therefore, after their purification from the culture supernatant, they are ready to be formulated for vaccine use. It has been extensively demonstrated that immunization with engineered OMVs can elicit excellent antibody responses against the heterologous antigens. However, the definition of the conditions necessary to reach the optimal antibody titers still needs to be investigated. Here, we defined the protein concentrations required to induce antigen-specific antibodies, and the amount of antigen and OMVs necessary and sufficient to elicit saturating levels of antigen-specific antibodies. Since not all antigens can be expressed in OMVs, we also investigated the effectiveness of vaccines in which OMVs and purified antigens are mixed together without using any procedure for their physical association. Our data show that in most of the cases OMV-antigen mixtures are very effective in eliciting antigen-specific antibodies. This is probably due to the capacity of OMVs to "absorb" antigens, establishing sufficiently stable interactions that allow antigen-OMV co-presentation to the same antigen presenting cell. In those cases when antigen-OMV interaction is not sufficiently stable, the addition of alum to the formulation guarantees the elicitation of high titers of antigen-specific antibodies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lorenzo Croia
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy; (L.C.); (G.B.S.); (I.Z.); (E.K.); (R.C.); (M.T.)
| | - Giulia Boscato Sopetto
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy; (L.C.); (G.B.S.); (I.Z.); (E.K.); (R.C.); (M.T.)
| | - Ilaria Zanella
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy; (L.C.); (G.B.S.); (I.Z.); (E.K.); (R.C.); (M.T.)
| | - Elena Caproni
- Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100 Siena, Italy; (E.C.); (A.G.); (S.T.); (M.B.); (G.D.L.); (A.G.)
| | - Assunta Gagliardi
- Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100 Siena, Italy; (E.C.); (A.G.); (S.T.); (M.B.); (G.D.L.); (A.G.)
| | - Silvia Tamburini
- Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100 Siena, Italy; (E.C.); (A.G.); (S.T.); (M.B.); (G.D.L.); (A.G.)
| | - Enrico König
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy; (L.C.); (G.B.S.); (I.Z.); (E.K.); (R.C.); (M.T.)
| | - Mattia Benedet
- Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100 Siena, Italy; (E.C.); (A.G.); (S.T.); (M.B.); (G.D.L.); (A.G.)
| | - Gabriele Di Lascio
- Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100 Siena, Italy; (E.C.); (A.G.); (S.T.); (M.B.); (G.D.L.); (A.G.)
| | - Riccardo Corbellari
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy; (L.C.); (G.B.S.); (I.Z.); (E.K.); (R.C.); (M.T.)
| | - Alberto Grandi
- Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100 Siena, Italy; (E.C.); (A.G.); (S.T.); (M.B.); (G.D.L.); (A.G.)
- BiOMViS Srl, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100 Siena, Italy
| | - Michele Tomasi
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy; (L.C.); (G.B.S.); (I.Z.); (E.K.); (R.C.); (M.T.)
| | - Guido Grandi
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy; (L.C.); (G.B.S.); (I.Z.); (E.K.); (R.C.); (M.T.)
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Tamburini S, Zhang Y, Gagliardi A, Di Lascio G, Caproni E, Benedet M, Tomasi M, Corbellari R, Zanella I, Croia L, Grandi G, Müller M, Grandi A. Bacterial Outer Membrane Vesicles as a Platform for the Development of a Broadly Protective Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Based on the Minor Capsid Protein L2. Vaccines (Basel) 2023; 11:1582. [PMID: 37896984 PMCID: PMC10611245 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines11101582] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2023] [Revised: 09/27/2023] [Accepted: 10/08/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are a large family of viruses with a capsid composed of the L1 and L2 proteins, which bind to receptors of the basal epithelial cells and promote virus entry. The majority of sexually active people become exposed to HPV and the virus is the most common cause of cervical cancer. Vaccines are available based on the L1 protein, which self-assembles and forms virus-like particles (VLPs) when expressed in yeast and insect cells. Although very effective, these vaccines are HPV type-restricted and their costs limit broad vaccination campaigns. Recently, vaccine candidates based on the conserved L2 epitope from serotypes 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 6, 51, and 59 were shown to elicit broadly neutralizing anti-HPV antibodies. In this study, we tested whether E. coli outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) could be successfully decorated with L2 polytopes and whether the engineered OMVs could induce neutralizing antibodies. OMVs represent an attractive vaccine platform owing to their intrinsic adjuvanticity and their low production costs. We show that strings of L2 epitopes could be efficiently expressed on the surface of the OMVs and a polypeptide composed of the L2 epitopes from serotypes 18, 33, 35, and 59 provided a broad cross-protective activity against a large panel of HPV serotypes as determined using pseudovirus neutralization assay. Considering the simplicity of the OMV production process, our work provides a highly effective and inexpensive solution to produce universal anti-HPV vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Tamburini
- Department of Cellular, Computation and Integrative of Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy; (S.T.); (M.T.); (R.C.); (I.Z.); (L.C.)
| | - Yueru Zhang
- German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 242, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; (Y.Z.); (M.M.)
| | - Assunta Gagliardi
- Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100 Siena, Italy; (A.G.); (G.D.L.); (E.C.); (M.B.); (A.G.)
| | - Gabriele Di Lascio
- Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100 Siena, Italy; (A.G.); (G.D.L.); (E.C.); (M.B.); (A.G.)
| | - Elena Caproni
- Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100 Siena, Italy; (A.G.); (G.D.L.); (E.C.); (M.B.); (A.G.)
| | - Mattia Benedet
- Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100 Siena, Italy; (A.G.); (G.D.L.); (E.C.); (M.B.); (A.G.)
| | - Michele Tomasi
- Department of Cellular, Computation and Integrative of Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy; (S.T.); (M.T.); (R.C.); (I.Z.); (L.C.)
| | - Riccardo Corbellari
- Department of Cellular, Computation and Integrative of Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy; (S.T.); (M.T.); (R.C.); (I.Z.); (L.C.)
| | - Ilaria Zanella
- Department of Cellular, Computation and Integrative of Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy; (S.T.); (M.T.); (R.C.); (I.Z.); (L.C.)
| | - Lorenzo Croia
- Department of Cellular, Computation and Integrative of Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy; (S.T.); (M.T.); (R.C.); (I.Z.); (L.C.)
| | - Guido Grandi
- Department of Cellular, Computation and Integrative of Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy; (S.T.); (M.T.); (R.C.); (I.Z.); (L.C.)
| | - Martin Müller
- German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 242, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; (Y.Z.); (M.M.)
| | - Alberto Grandi
- Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100 Siena, Italy; (A.G.); (G.D.L.); (E.C.); (M.B.); (A.G.)
- BiOMViS Srl, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100 Siena, Italy
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3
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Grandi A, Tomasi M, Ullah I, Bertelli C, Vanzo T, Accordini S, Gagliardi A, Zanella I, Benedet M, Corbellari R, Di Lascio G, Tamburini S, Caproni E, Croia L, Ravà M, Fumagalli V, Di Lucia P, Marotta D, Sala E, Iannacone M, Kumar P, Mothes W, Uchil PD, Cherepanov P, Bolognesi M, Pizzato M, Grandi G. Immunogenicity and Pre-Clinical Efficacy of an OMV-Based SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine. Vaccines (Basel) 2023; 11:1546. [PMID: 37896949 PMCID: PMC10610814 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines11101546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2023] [Revised: 09/14/2023] [Accepted: 09/27/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The vaccination campaign against SARS-CoV-2 relies on the world-wide availability of effective vaccines, with a potential need of 20 billion vaccine doses to fully vaccinate the world population. To reach this goal, the manufacturing and logistic processes should be affordable to all countries, irrespective of economical and climatic conditions. Outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) are bacterial-derived vesicles that can be engineered to incorporate heterologous antigens. Given the inherent adjuvanticity, such modified OMVs can be used as vaccines to induce potent immune responses against the associated proteins. Here, we show that OMVs engineered to incorporate peptides derived from the receptor binding motif (RBM) of the spike protein from SARS-CoV-2 elicit an effective immune response in vaccinated mice, resulting in the production of neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) with a titre higher than 1:300. The immunity induced by the vaccine is sufficient to protect the animals from intranasal challenge with SARS-CoV-2, preventing both virus replication in the lungs and the pathology associated with virus infection. Furthermore, we show that OMVs can be effectively decorated with the RBM of the Omicron BA.1 variant and that such engineered OMVs induce nAbs against Omicron BA.1 and BA.5, as measured using the pseudovirus neutralization infectivity assay. Importantly, we show that the RBM438-509 ancestral-OMVs elicited antibodies which efficiently neutralize in vitro both the homologous ancestral strain, the Omicron BA.1 and BA.5 variants with a neutralization titre ranging from 1:100 to 1:1500, suggesting its potential use as a vaccine targeting diverse SARS-CoV-2 variants. Altogether, given the convenience associated with the ease of engineering, production and distribution, our results demonstrate that OMV-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccines can be a crucial addition to the vaccines currently available.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alberto Grandi
- Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100 Siena, Italy; (A.G.); (A.G.); (M.B.); (G.D.L.); (E.C.)
- BiOMViS Srl, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100 Siena, Italy
| | - Michele Tomasi
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy; (M.T.); (C.B.); (T.V.); (S.A.); (I.Z.); (R.C.); (S.T.); (L.C.)
| | - Irfan Ullah
- Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; (I.U.); (W.M.); (P.D.U.)
| | - Cinzia Bertelli
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy; (M.T.); (C.B.); (T.V.); (S.A.); (I.Z.); (R.C.); (S.T.); (L.C.)
| | - Teresa Vanzo
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy; (M.T.); (C.B.); (T.V.); (S.A.); (I.Z.); (R.C.); (S.T.); (L.C.)
| | - Silvia Accordini
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy; (M.T.); (C.B.); (T.V.); (S.A.); (I.Z.); (R.C.); (S.T.); (L.C.)
| | - Assunta Gagliardi
- Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100 Siena, Italy; (A.G.); (A.G.); (M.B.); (G.D.L.); (E.C.)
| | - Ilaria Zanella
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy; (M.T.); (C.B.); (T.V.); (S.A.); (I.Z.); (R.C.); (S.T.); (L.C.)
| | - Mattia Benedet
- Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100 Siena, Italy; (A.G.); (A.G.); (M.B.); (G.D.L.); (E.C.)
| | - Riccardo Corbellari
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy; (M.T.); (C.B.); (T.V.); (S.A.); (I.Z.); (R.C.); (S.T.); (L.C.)
| | - Gabriele Di Lascio
- Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100 Siena, Italy; (A.G.); (A.G.); (M.B.); (G.D.L.); (E.C.)
| | - Silvia Tamburini
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy; (M.T.); (C.B.); (T.V.); (S.A.); (I.Z.); (R.C.); (S.T.); (L.C.)
| | - Elena Caproni
- Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100 Siena, Italy; (A.G.); (A.G.); (M.B.); (G.D.L.); (E.C.)
| | - Lorenzo Croia
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy; (M.T.); (C.B.); (T.V.); (S.A.); (I.Z.); (R.C.); (S.T.); (L.C.)
| | - Micol Ravà
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy; (M.R.); (V.F.); (P.D.L.); (D.M.); (E.S.); (M.I.)
| | - Valeria Fumagalli
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy; (M.R.); (V.F.); (P.D.L.); (D.M.); (E.S.); (M.I.)
- Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Via Olgettina 58, 00132 Milan, Italy
| | - Pietro Di Lucia
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy; (M.R.); (V.F.); (P.D.L.); (D.M.); (E.S.); (M.I.)
| | - Davide Marotta
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy; (M.R.); (V.F.); (P.D.L.); (D.M.); (E.S.); (M.I.)
- Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Via Olgettina 58, 00132 Milan, Italy
| | - Eleonora Sala
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy; (M.R.); (V.F.); (P.D.L.); (D.M.); (E.S.); (M.I.)
- Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Via Olgettina 58, 00132 Milan, Italy
| | - Matteo Iannacone
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy; (M.R.); (V.F.); (P.D.L.); (D.M.); (E.S.); (M.I.)
- Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Via Olgettina 58, 00132 Milan, Italy
- Experimental Imaging Center, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Priti Kumar
- Department of Microbial Pathogenesis, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06510, USA;
| | - Walther Mothes
- Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; (I.U.); (W.M.); (P.D.U.)
- Department of Microbial Pathogenesis, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06510, USA;
| | - Pradeep D. Uchil
- Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; (I.U.); (W.M.); (P.D.U.)
- Department of Microbial Pathogenesis, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06510, USA;
| | - Peter Cherepanov
- Chromatin Structure and Mobile DNA Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London NW1 1AT, UK;
| | - Martino Bolognesi
- Biosciences Department, University of Milan, Via Celoria 26, 20133 Milan, Italy;
| | - Massimo Pizzato
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy; (M.T.); (C.B.); (T.V.); (S.A.); (I.Z.); (R.C.); (S.T.); (L.C.)
| | - Guido Grandi
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy; (M.T.); (C.B.); (T.V.); (S.A.); (I.Z.); (R.C.); (S.T.); (L.C.)
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Caproni E, Corbellari R, Tomasi M, Isaac SJ, Tamburini S, Zanella I, Grigolato M, Gagliardi A, Benedet M, Baraldi C, Croia L, Di Lascio G, Berti A, Valensin S, Bellini E, Parri M, Grandi A, Grandi G. Anti-Tumor Efficacy of In Situ Vaccination Using Bacterial Outer Membrane Vesicles. Cancers (Basel) 2023; 15:3328. [PMID: 37444437 DOI: 10.3390/cancers15133328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2023] [Revised: 06/16/2023] [Accepted: 06/20/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023] Open
Abstract
In situ vaccination (ISV) is a promising cancer immunotherapy strategy that consists of the intratumoral administration of immunostimulatory molecules (adjuvants). The rationale is that tumor antigens are abundant at the tumor site, and therefore, to elicit an effective anti-tumor immune response, all that is needed is an adjuvant, which can turn the immunosuppressive environment into an immunologically active one. Bacterial outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) are potent adjuvants since they contain several microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) naturally present in the outer membrane and in the periplasmic space of Gram-negative bacteria. Therefore, they appear particularly indicted for ISV. In this work, we first show that the OMVs from E. coli BL21(DE3)Δ60 strain promote a strong anti-tumor activity when intratumorally injected into the tumors of three different mouse models. Tumor inhibition correlates with a rapid infiltration of DCs and NK cells. We also show that the addition of neo-epitopes to OMVs synergizes with the vesicle adjuvanticity, as judged by a two-tumor mouse model. Overall, our data support the use of the OMVs in ISV and indicate that ISV efficacy can benefit from the addition of properly selected tumor-specific neo-antigens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Caproni
- Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100 Siena, Italy
| | - Riccardo Corbellari
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy
| | - Michele Tomasi
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy
| | - Samine J Isaac
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy
| | - Silvia Tamburini
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy
| | - Ilaria Zanella
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy
| | - Martina Grigolato
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy
| | - Assunta Gagliardi
- Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100 Siena, Italy
| | - Mattia Benedet
- Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100 Siena, Italy
| | - Chiara Baraldi
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Croia
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy
| | | | - Alvise Berti
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy
| | - Silvia Valensin
- Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100 Siena, Italy
| | - Erika Bellini
- Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100 Siena, Italy
| | - Matteo Parri
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences "Mario Serio", University of Florence, Viale Morgagni 50, 50134 Florence, Italy
| | - Alberto Grandi
- Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100 Siena, Italy
- BiOMViS Srl, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100 Siena, Italy
| | - Guido Grandi
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy
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5
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Grandi A, Tomasi M, Ullah I, Bertelli C, Vanzo T, Accordini S, Gagliardi A, Zanella I, Benedet M, Corbellari R, Lascio GD, Tamburini S, Caproni E, Croia L, Ravà M, Fumagalli V, Lucia PD, Marotta D, Sala E, Iannacone M, Kumar P, Mothes W, Uchil PD, Cherepanov P, Bolognesi M, Pizzato M, Grandi G. Immunogenicity and pre-clinical efficacy of an OMV-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Res Sq 2023:rs.3.rs-2788726. [PMID: 37292970 PMCID: PMC10246226 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2788726/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The vaccination campaign against SARS-CoV-2 relies on the world-wide availability of effective vaccines, with a potential need of 20 billion vaccine doses to fully vaccinate the world population. To reach this goal, the manufacturing and logistic processes should be affordable to all countries, irrespectively of economical and climatic conditions. Outer membrane vesicles (OMV) are bacterial-derived vesicles that can be engineered to incorporate heterologous antigens. Given the inherent adjuvanticity, such modified OMV can be used as vaccine to induce potent immune responses against the associated protein. Here we show that OMVs engineered to incorporate peptides derived from the receptor binding motif (RBM) of the spike protein from SARS-CoV-2 elicit an effective immune response in vaccinated mice, resulting in the production of neutralizing antibodies (nAbs). The immunity induced by the vaccine is sufficient to protect the animals from intranasal challenge with SARS-CoV-2, preventing both virus replication in the lungs and the pathology associated with virus infection. Furthermore, we show that OMVs can be effectively decorated with the RBM of the Omicron BA.1 variant and that such engineered OMVs induced nAbs against Omicron BA.1 and BA.5, as judged by pseudovirus infectivity assay. Importantly, we show that the RBM438-509 ancestral-OMVs elicited antibodies which efficiently neutralized in vitro both the homologous ancestral strain, the Omicron BA.1 and BA.5 variants, suggesting its potential use as a pan SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Altogether, given the convenience associated with ease of engineering, production and distribution, our results demonstrate that OMV-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccines can be a crucial addition to the vaccines currently available.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alberto Grandi
- Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100, Siena, Italy
- BiOMViS Srl, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100, Siena Italy
| | - Michele Tomasi
- University of Trento, CIBIO Department, Via Sommarive 9, 28123, Trento Italy
| | - Irfan Ullah
- Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Cinzia Bertelli
- University of Trento, CIBIO Department, Via Sommarive 9, 28123, Trento Italy
| | - Teresa Vanzo
- University of Trento, CIBIO Department, Via Sommarive 9, 28123, Trento Italy
| | - Silvia Accordini
- University of Trento, CIBIO Department, Via Sommarive 9, 28123, Trento Italy
| | - Assunta Gagliardi
- Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100, Siena, Italy
| | - Ilaria Zanella
- University of Trento, CIBIO Department, Via Sommarive 9, 28123, Trento Italy
| | - Mattia Benedet
- Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100, Siena, Italy
| | - Riccardo Corbellari
- University of Trento, CIBIO Department, Via Sommarive 9, 28123, Trento Italy
| | | | - Silvia Tamburini
- University of Trento, CIBIO Department, Via Sommarive 9, 28123, Trento Italy
| | - Elena Caproni
- Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100, Siena, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Croia
- University of Trento, CIBIO Department, Via Sommarive 9, 28123, Trento Italy
| | - Micol Ravà
- IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Valeria Fumagalli
- IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, 20132 Milan, Italy
- Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Pietro Di Lucia
- IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Davide Marotta
- IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, 20132 Milan, Italy
- Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Eleonora Sala
- IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, 20132 Milan, Italy
- Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Matteo Iannacone
- IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, 20132 Milan, Italy
- Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, 20132 Milan, Italy
- IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Experimental Imaging Center, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Priti Kumar
- Department of Microbial Pathogenesis, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
| | - Walther Mothes
- Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
- Department of Microbial Pathogenesis, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
| | - Pradeep D. Uchil
- Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
- Department of Microbial Pathogenesis, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
| | - Peter Cherepanov
- The Francis Crick Institute, Chromatin Structure and Mobile DNA Laboratory, London, UK
| | | | - Massimo Pizzato
- University of Trento, CIBIO Department, Via Sommarive 9, 28123, Trento Italy
| | - Guido Grandi
- University of Trento, CIBIO Department, Via Sommarive 9, 28123, Trento Italy
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6
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Tomasi M, Caproni E, Benedet M, Zanella I, Giorgetta S, Dalsass M, König E, Gagliardi A, Fantappiè L, Berti A, Tamburini S, Croia L, Di Lascio G, Bellini E, Valensin S, Licata G, Sebastiani G, Dotta F, Armanini F, Cumbo F, Asnicar F, Blanco-Míguez A, Ruggiero E, Segata N, Grandi G, Grandi A. Outer Membrane Vesicles From The Gut Microbiome Contribute to Tumor Immunity by Eliciting Cross-Reactive T Cells. Front Oncol 2022; 12:912639. [PMID: 35847919 PMCID: PMC9281500 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.912639] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2022] [Accepted: 05/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
A growing body of evidence supports the notion that the gut microbiome plays an important role in cancer immunity. However, the underpinning mechanisms remain to be fully elucidated. One attractive hypothesis envisages that among the T cells elicited by the plethora of microbiome proteins a few exist that incidentally recognize neo-epitopes arising from cancer mutations (“molecular mimicry (MM)” hypothesis). To support MM, the human probiotic Escherichia coli Nissle was engineered with the SIINFEKL epitope (OVA-E.coli Nissle) and orally administered to C57BL/6 mice. The treatment with OVA-E.coli Nissle, but not with wild type E. coli Nissle, induced OVA-specific CD8+ T cells and inhibited the growth of tumors in mice challenged with B16F10 melanoma cells expressing OVA. The microbiome shotgun sequencing and the sequencing of TCRs from T cells recovered from both lamina propria and tumors provide evidence that the main mechanism of tumor inhibition is mediated by the elicitation at the intestinal site of cross-reacting T cells, which subsequently reach the tumor environment. Importantly, the administration of Outer Membrane Vesicles (OMVs) from engineered E. coli Nissle, as well as from E. coli BL21(DE3)ΔompA, carrying cancer-specific T cell epitopes also elicited epitope-specific T cells in the intestine and inhibited tumor growth. Overall, our data strengthen the important role of MM in tumor immunity and assign a novel function of OMVs in host-pathogen interaction. Moreover, our results pave the way to the exploitation of probiotics and OMVs engineered with tumor specific-antigens as personalized mucosal cancer vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele Tomasi
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Elena Caproni
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Mattia Benedet
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
- Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Siena, Italy
| | - Ilaria Zanella
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Sebastiano Giorgetta
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Mattia Dalsass
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Enrico König
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
- Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Siena, Italy
| | | | | | - Alvise Berti
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Silvia Tamburini
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Croia
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Gabriele Di Lascio
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | | | | | - Giada Licata
- Diabetes Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Neurosciences, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
- Fondazione Umberto Di Mario, c/o Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Siena, Italy
| | - Guido Sebastiani
- Diabetes Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Neurosciences, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
- Fondazione Umberto Di Mario, c/o Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Siena, Italy
| | - Francesco Dotta
- Diabetes Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Neurosciences, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
- Fondazione Umberto Di Mario, c/o Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Siena, Italy
- Tuscany Centre for Precision Medicine (CReMeP), Siena, Italy
| | - Federica Armanini
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Fabio Cumbo
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Francesco Asnicar
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Aitor Blanco-Míguez
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Eliana Ruggiero
- Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCSS) Ospedale San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
| | - Nicola Segata
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Guido Grandi
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
- *Correspondence: Guido Grandi, ; Alberto Grandi,
| | - Alberto Grandi
- Toscana Life Sciences Foundation, Siena, Italy
- BiOMViS Srl, Siena, Italy
- *Correspondence: Guido Grandi, ; Alberto Grandi,
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